The season started well with Stoke going four matches unbeaten and breaking the club's transfer record with the £10 million signing of Peter Crouch from Tottenham Hotspur.

For the season opener against Chelsea manager Tony Pulis gave a league debut to Jonathan Woodgate with Robert Huth moving to right-back.

With the match seemingly destined for a goalless draw, "Baggies" keeper Ben Foster hesitated when under pressure from Ryan Shotton, who was able to claim the ball and roll it into an empty net.

City scored the only goal of the match after 20 minutes when Jamie Carragher brought down Walters in the penalty area, who fired the ball past Pepe Reina.

[6] After a 1–1 in Kyiv, "The Potters"' nine-match unbeaten run was then ended in emphatic style by Sunderland on Wearside as Steve Bruce's side scored four goals without reply.

It turned out to be a defensive "horror show" for City as former transfer target Demba Ba scored a hat-trick as both Shawcross and Wilson departed due to injury.

[13] Stoke ended a busy period with a woeful defeat against Bolton Wanderers who reversed the scoreline from last season's FA Cup semi-final.

More poor defending, however, cost Stoke as goals from Luke Young and a brace from Heiðar Helguson earned Neil Warnock's team the points.

[17] After securing European qualification against Dynamo Kyiv, Stoke travelled to an emotional Goodison Park where the Everton fans were mourning the recent death of Gary Speed.

[26] Stoke's first home match of 2012 was against West Brom at a windy Britannia Stadium, and the Baggies took full advantage of the conditions with James Morrison taking long-range shots.

Cameron Jerome came off the bench and scored with a glancing header, but West Brom secured a deserved win in the final minute via a Graham Dorrans free-kick.

[27] On 31 January, Stoke took on Manchester United at Old Trafford and were undone by two penalties either side of half time, Pennant tripping Park Ji-sung for the first and Walters pulling Antonio Valencia's arm.

Stoke conceded twice in the opening half hour with Fulham's new Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak and an own goal from Sørensen putting Martin Jol's team in a good position.

[37] Stoke's next home match saw title challengers Manchester City arrived at the Britannia Stadium and saw a contender for goal of the season scored by Peter Crouch.

After a goalless first half, Stoke opened the scoring in memorable style: a long goal-kick from Begović was headed by Crouch on to Pennant, who passed back to the forward, who then took a touch and fired a volley shot past goalkeeper Joe Hart.

[41] After a two-week break due to Everton being involved in the FA Cup semi-final, Stoke made the long trip north to Newcastle United where they came away with a heavy 3–0 loss.

[42] Arsenal were Stoke's next opponents at the Britannia Stadium and Peter Crouch scored the opening goal after just ten minutes, but Robin van Persie quickly equalised for the "Gunners".

Both sides had opportunities of grabbing all three points during a frantic second 45 minutes, with Crouch and Jonathan Walters both going closest in stoppage time but the match ended on level terms.

[44] The final two matches of the 2011–12 season saw Stoke involved in the fight to avoid relegation with both their opponents Queens Park Rangers and Bolton in danger of joining Blackburn and Wolves in The Football League.

With the match seemingly heading for a goalless draw, Djibril Cissé scored in the final few moments to spark a pitch invasion by jubilant "Rs" fans.

Stoke controlled the second half and ended the contest with ten minutes left as a Pennant corner fell for Huth to fire a close range shot under the body of Frank Fielding.

[56] In Croatia, over 28,000 Hajduk fans created a unique atmosphere for the second leg, as Jonathan Woodgate made his debut in place of Andy Wilkinson who missed out due to injury.

Stoke sealed their place in the play-off round in the second half injury time when Ryan Shotton bundled the ball past goalkeeper Danijel Subašić.

[60] The second leg proved to a very one sided affair with Stoke scoring three times in the opening first 40 minutes through Matthew Upson, Kenwyne Jones and Glenn Whelan.

[63] Israeli side Maccabi Tel Aviv arrived in Stoke-on-Trent bottom of the group and after 12 minutes Jones powered his header past Guy Haimov.

Jerome had an eventful first half and after being show a yellow card for dissent he received a second for an apparent elbow on left back Yoav Ziv.

In the second half, Ziv himself was sent off in bizarre circumstances: after being unhappy with not being awarded a free-kick, he kicked his displaced boot at the linesman and, after a short consultation between the officials, was sent off.

Stoke improved in the second half and pulled level ten minutes from full-time via a powerful header from Jones to claim an historic place in the knock-out stage.

Stoke took the lead via Ricardo Fuller after 30 minutes, however the game changed when Matthew Upson fouled Hugo Almeida to concede a penalty kick was sent off.

[71] Stoke were handed a glamour tie against Spanish giants Valencia in the round of 32; following the draw, Pulis stated that he is relishing the prospect of taking on one of Europe's top clubs.